Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Just when you thought that the race in the 42nd District was settled, another player shows up. Independent Steve Patrick qualified with the SecStates office today to take a crack at the State Senate seat that was vacated by Ex Senator David Adelman. A quick phone call netted the man himself and got this thumbnail of info. He's a 22 year resident of the District, has been the President of the LaVista Park Homeowners association twice and felt the call for service.

Us Libertarian's understand the call to service. Steve's got a lot of work to do between now and the 11th of May and we wish him well. Elections are about choices and the more choices the better!

It's a beautiful spring day, the sun in shining, the birds are singing and sweetness and light pervade the universe as a warm glow comes over Libertarians across the the land. Time to go Shootin'!

So it's off to River Bend Gun Club with Libertarian US Senate Candidate Chuck Donovan and Libertarian State Senate Candidate David Montané for a mid morning session on the steel target range followed up by some long gun work over on the 100 yard range. The wonderful thing about the outdoor range experience is that you don't get claustrophobic being jammed into a narrow shooting stall with shooters of unknown capabilities to your right and on your left. And on a light use day like a Wednesday, the awesome facilities at River Bend are mostly deserted. Perfect!

We started out with some familiarization drills on the steel target range with a wide variety of 22's, .25, 32 cal, 9mm, 40 S&W, 38 spl, 45 colt and even a 7.62x25. After banging off a few rounds we devised a series of short matches to try to define who the best pistol shot of the crew was and lo and behold Top Honors were taken by Libertarian David Montané due to some really wicked weak hand skills.

We'll post up the informal match results in a later post as the match rules got really complicated with as many as 4 weapons changes and position changes as the match evolved. Sad to say that none of the participants was able to over come the last event of the pistol match, The Pine Cone Challenge.

Naturally, exercising your 2nd amendment rights stirs the fires of Liberty which tends to promote a little speechifying from candidates. Chuck Donovan got fired up and gave us a short treatise on history and trust. This guy gets it.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Libertarian Brad Ploeger is conducting a petition drive to qualify for the ballot in State House District 59 in southeast Atlanta.

From the Georgia LP Website:

The Libertarian Party of Atlanta is gearing up to support the Libertarian Party's candidates in this year's election. If you have never been involved in campaigns before now; this is a great way to gain experience! Campaigns require the support of volunteers like you to survive and win in November.

Brad is running to be the first Libertarian elected to the Georgia General Assembly. The 59th district includes portions of Grant Park, Midtown, Lakewood and Old Fourth Ward. Because he is not running for a statewide office where the Libertarian Party already has access to the ballot, Brad’s campaign needs 1,600 voters to sign ballot access petitions in order to earn a place on the ballot in November. Help Brad become a voice for our Libertarian beliefs under the Gold Dome.

Volunteers are requested to wear comfortable shoes and bring a good attitude. Before canvassers are sent out, teams will receive training and be given identification. No previous experience is required. Bring your friends and family!

While the campaign plans on canvassing each day if the weather becomes inclement we will work on various clerical and administrative tasks needed by the campaign. The show goes on rain or shine.

All campaign activities start at Campaign HQ, Brad’s house at 367 Cherokee Avenue SE, Atlanta 30312, between Woodward Avenue and Bryant Street, just south of Memorial. If you need further directions, please call Brad Ploeger at 404-939-0367.

Brads Facebook page is here so stop by and get the latest news on the petition drive and the rest of the campaign.

Libertarian David Montané continues to campaign in the special election in State Senate District 42 as qualifying comes to a close and the race begins in earnest. Democrat Jason Carter also spoke at the Medlock MANA Association meeting but democrat Tom Stubbs failed to appear. There were about 65 members of the Association present for the event.

Libertarian Kira Willis is scheduled to meet with the guys and gals of the DeKalb LP tommorrow night at 7:00Pm at the Village Corner Restaurant in historic Stone Mountain. Kira is running in the statewide race for Superintendent of Schools under the banner of Liberty and will address the members of the DeKalb LP on the state of the race.

If you'd like to meet her and hear her positions on the state of education in Georgia, mark your calenders and head out to meeting this Wednesday.

Monday, March 29, 2010

It's not often here in LibertyLand that we get to see two Libertarian Candidates qualify for two State Senate races in a mere 30 minutes. Libertarians Brandon Givens of Gainesville and David Montané of Decatur filled out their paperwork and plunked down da money to secure their spots on the ballot for the 11 May 2010 election.

It's the kind of thing that should be happening every cycle here in Georgia but it just can't as long as the the republicans and democrats at the State Capitol continue to ignore the voices of freedom and condemn Georgian's to abiding by the 1943 Jim Crow Ballot access laws currently constituting the law of the land. It's a grim game of privilege, preference and elitism as our duly elected politicians make sure there are no threats to their continued grip on power, even from those wacky Libertarians.

So here's the dealio, these two candidates are running about as lean a political campaign as you can. They are are short on staff, short on dollars and face an almost impossible task bringing Liberty into the political process. And yet, they are there at the starting gate getting ready for a mad dash of a four week campaign to try to influence the future for the better. They need your help. And they need it today.

Call them, hit their FaceBook pages or websites and volunteer your time or your treasure to help them change Georgia. It's time to take Liberty for a Test Ride!

Libertarian David Montané has completed the journey to the SecState's office and officially paid the $400 to take a crack at State Senate Seat District 42 in Decatur. David was joined by fellow Libertarian Brandon Givens who will run in the special election for State Senate District 49 in Gainesville. Congratulations to both candidates for being willing to put on the line for Liberty.

The readership is encouraged to give any and all the support they can to David and Brandon as they dash to the finish line. Both campaigns need volunteers and of course, financial support. So do what you can, when you can for Liberty.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Here are Bludgeon & Skewer we're always looking for new metrics to get a gauge of our candidate's success in spreading the message of Liberty and the latest result of this quest is the FaceBook Fan Counter (FBFC). The basic idea is that if a FaceBook page and a FaceBook presence are now de rigeur for all politicians, does the number of fans they have translate into success at the ballot box?

To find that out we're going to look at our statewide candidates as well as the two Libertarian State Senate candidates and keep a weekly tally of their FaceBook fans to see if there is any correlation with the outcomes of their races. Not as bad as underwater BB stacking and it may reveal something of interest.

So there's the first run on this experiment. Not all candidates were included this time, but there's always next week.

Additionally, some of these third tier guys and gals need to go ahead and admit their party affiliation on their websites or FaceBook fan pages. There's no need to make a partisan Libertarian Community Organizer dig around the internet to find out which brand of political hacksterism they belong to. If your consultants are telling you it's to early to talk about that, then get new consultants.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Libertarian stalwart Brandon Givens has indicated he will run in the impending Special Election in State Senate District 49 to replace outgoing State Senator Lee Hawkins. Brandon's last run was in 2008 when he campaigned for the PSC Northern District against republican Lauren "Bubba" McDonald and democrat Jim Powell. Brandon ran a beautiful campaign which resulted in a run off between the republican and democrat candidates and ensured that issues of importance to lovers of Liberty were emphasized.

As of today there are two declared candidates seeking Senator Hawkins old seat, Libertarian Brandon Givens and republican Jimmy Norman. There is a strong possibility that Cecil "Butch" Miller will enter the contest as he ran against Senator Hawkins in 2008 and has about $144,000 in the old campaign kitty according to the State Ethics Commission website.

This is great news for the Libertarian Party of Georgia, we have two candidates involved in two special elections for State Senate as a result of the topsy turvy world of political ambition. This will bring the total number of Senatorial Special Elections in Georgia this year up to three and the first race we ran in 2010 with Libertarian Taylor Bryant in State Senate 22 showed conclusively that there are a hell of a lot more Libertarian's in Georgia than most people thought.

Kudos to Libertarian Brandon Givens and Libertarian David Montané for carrying the banner of Liberty!

Friday, March 26, 2010

It was a promising beginning for Liberty earlier this session as four separate bills were introduced in the Georgia Legislature that addressed our fair states draconian ballot access laws and offered some relief to the citizens of this state. Alas and alack, all four were kept bottled up in committee and were never sent to the floor for a vote and so they will die today as the legislature plows through cross over day.

Each of these bills had their merits and any one of them would have been a giant step forward for Liberty in Georgia but none of them got out of committee. Why? And what can be done to improve their chances for next year?

One thing stands out as a means of sending a message our politicians will hear. Vote for David Montané, the Libertarian Candidate running in the Special Election for Georgia State Senate District 42. It's incendiary, revolutionary and will change some behaviors and attitudes down at the State House. If you want to take action for Liberty, Vote Libertarian!

The SecState has set the qualifying window for the special elections for State Senate 42 and 49 as well as the special election for State House 12 to open on 29 March 2010 and close at 12:00 on 31 March 2010. The Libertarian Party has candidate David Montané running in State Senate District 42 and is looking for Liberty minded candidates for State Senate 49 and State House 12. The window is a little over thirty days from now so if you're thinking of getting involved, now the time to do it.

Here's the press release from the SecState:

For Immediate ReleaseMarch 25, 2010 FFI Contact: Matt CarrothersDirector of Media Relations404-656-4269Secretary of State Kemp Sets Qualifying Dates for the Special Elections in House District 12, Senate District 42 and Senate District 49

Atlanta—Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp today announced receipt of Governor Sonny Perdue’s Writ of Election setting Tuesday, May 11, 2010 as the date for the Special Elections to fill the unexpired terms of State Rep. Tom Graves (HD 12), State Sen. David Adelman (SD 42), and State Sen. Lee Hawkins (SD 49).

Secretary Kemp set candidate qualifying for Monday, March 29, 2010 through Wednesday, March 31, 2010. Qualifying on Monday will run from 9:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.; on Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.; and on Wednesday from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Candidates will qualify in the Elections Division of the Office of Secretary of State, 1104 West Tower, 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1505. The qualifying fee is $400 for each office.

The election for House District 12 will occur in Pickens County and portions of Bartow and Gordon Counties. The election for Senate District 42 will occur in a portion of DeKalb County. The election for Senate District 49 will occur in Hall County and a portion of Jackson County. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11, 2010.

The elections are non-partisan special elections with no party primary. However, each candidate’s party affiliation, if any, will be listed on the ballot. A run-off election, if needed, will be held Tuesday, June 8, 2010.

Voters can request an absentee ballot from their county registrar’s office through the close of business on Friday, May 7, 2010. Absentee ballots must be returned to the county registrar’s office by the close of polls on Election Day. Photo identification is not required when voting by mail. To download an absentee ballot request form, please visit: www.sos.ga.gov/elections.

Citizens must be registered to vote by Friday, April 2, 2010 to participate in the May 11, 2010 election. Voter registration forms can be obtained at any county registrar’s office or from the Secretary of State’s website: http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/voter_registration/voter_reg_app.htm.

Brian Kemp was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2010. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives and the Capitol Museum.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Big Jim Galloway over at the Political Insider suffered another research breakdown today in the Morning Jolt when he mentioned both democrat Jason Carter and democrat Tom Stubbs in a District 42 special election update and once again forgot to mention Libertarian David Montané. Oh the Humanity!

Once more we've had to correct this journalistic oversight and just for kicks, we'd really like to see the readership flex their typing fingers and head over here and post a comment or two. Be advised the comment trail is quite long and a bit of a dreary read so you might want to skip to the end. Consider this an experiment, sort of an internet flash mob that doesn't ask you to get in your car and go somewhere. But before you go, head over to the sidebar and help some deserving Georgia Politician spend some of their campaign cash! It's the quick and easy way to influence the political scene in Georgia right now!

Libertarian Candidate for Governor, John Monds, spoke to the guys and gals up at Georgia Highlands College yesterday and shared some fundamental elements of Libertarian philosophy with the crowd. The original article appeared in the Rome News Tribune and we found it courtesy of That's Just Peachy the best little Georgia News site in the state. Head over and give the article a read and leave a comment or two

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Libertarian Candidate for US Senate, Chuck Donovan, unloads on the federales in his latest post to FaceBook about the reconciled health care bill.

Chuck Donovan for US Senate, Georgia 2010 A DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.

On Sunday, March 21st, 2010, a junta of self proclaimed “progressives”, too yellow to admit that they are actually reds, tyrannically usurped power over a major portion of the United States economy. Shamelessly, a couple of days later, the President of the United States signed their illicit bill into the law of the land. Blatantly ignoring the Constitution they all swore to protect and defend, they proved yet again, that our worst enemies are not foreign, but are indeed domestic.

This despotic act was thinly disguised by a sham procedure offered by the Democrats under the rules of reconciliation, but vote or no vote; it failed to hide their egregious violation of the Constitution. It is a testament to years of government managed “education” and media “information”, that so many Americans took this “bloodless revolution” so calmly, and accepted and often cheered the loss of their precious freedom to our Central Politburo.

The silly notion that we will increase the number of people covered with health care insurance and increase “free” medical services by spending less cannot be passed off as wishful thinking. We must accept the fact of willful deceit on the part of those who supported this bill, and willing acceptance of a lie on the part of so many Americans who accept propaganda without hesitation. There can be no other explanation.

The 11th circuit court decision on March 19th in the Coffield vs. Handel case upholds limiting choice for Georgia voters, as they confirm a lower court's dismissal for "failure to state a claim" as the plaintiff challenged the Constitutionality of Georgia's 5% rule for signatures necessary for independent and "political body" candidates to get on the ballot.

Georgia law states that in order for a candidate to get on the ballot he must turn in petitions equaling 5 percent of the registered voters from the district he plans to run in. If a candidate plans to run statewide, he or she must get signatures from 1 percent of registered voters in the state.

The 1 percent rule also applies to parties attempting to receive a line on the ballot. Provided they are successful they are still not a "party" as defined by Georgia law, they are a "political body" and they must receive 1 percent of the registered vote in any statewide race to maintain that status. In order to receive an automatic ballot line for all candidates and major party status, a candidate for governor or president must receive 20 percent of the popular vote nationally in a general election. If a party falls below 20 percent, it loses major party status.

As noted previously, Richard Winger at Ballot Access News has stated that Georgia has the worst ballot access laws in the nation. “There is no other state with a law that has kept all minor party or independent candidates off the ballot for such an important office as US House for decades. Every state has had minor party and/or independent candidates on the ballot in recent years for president, and US Senate (although one must go back to 2000 to make this completely true, for president, because of Oklahoma),” says Winger. “Every state except Georgia has had multiple minor party and/or independent candidates for US House during either of the last two elections. Georgia law for US House is absolutely the worst ballot access law of any type in the nation.”

"With several options to choose from in this legislative session, this decision furthers the case for reforming the draconian ballot access laws here in the state," says Brett Bittner, Operations Director of the Libertarian Party of Georgia. "Reform is needed, and the state legislature has the opportunity, whether they pass HB 1257, HB 1141, HB 1425, or SB 359, to show what they think about giving Georgia voters a real choice at the ballot box."

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

First it's Rep. Graves hitting the silk to run for Nathan "Stinky" Deal's old seat and now State Senator Lee Hawkins and his jacket have left the building. And that means (Drum roll please) Another Special Election! This is for State Senate District 49 up in Gainesville and it should coincide time wise with the special planned for the 12th House seat.

Where's the 49th?

So now we have to try to find a candidate to run in State Senate 49 while we're helping Libertarian David Montané move Liberty to the goal line in the race in the 42nd as well as locate a candidate for the House District 12 and get that contest up to speed. To say we're stretched thin at the moment is an understatement.

And so we turn to the readership to aid and assist us in our quest to put a Libertarian in the Statehouse. If any of you know of a likely Liberty Candidate that can stomach running a short campaign against incredible odds with little or no outside funding please have them contact us. The State LP will pay your filing fees but after that you're on your own hook. If you've ever wanted a soapbox to stand on, here's your opportunity. Be advised that this is truly a limited time offer.

Lots of goings on up in north Georgia as US Rep Nathan Deal resigns for real and our local politicians get set to take a shot at grabbing his old seat in the impending Special Election for the 9th Congressional District. Among the aspirants to this federal seat are Tom Graves of Ranger who resigned his seat effective today. That means there'll be a Special Election for the Georgia House 12th District seat as well.

Where the hell is the 12th?

Looks like a nice district nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians and devoid of any major population centers. Quite bucolic. The question is, are there any lovers of Liberty residing in that district who would care to give it a go and run as a Libertarian for Tom Graves old seat? Time is critical as the qualifying period will open soon and once that closes, the window is firmly shut.

So if any of the readership knows of a likely lad or likely lass that would be willing to step up for Liberty, drop us a line, give us a call, send a smoke signal and we'll get right back to you. Time's a wastin'!

Here's the latest missive from the fine folks over at Voter.GA on the ongoing saga of SecState IG Shawn Lagrua and persecution of Laura Gallegos, Guy Antinozzi and others over the last couple of years. The impeachment papers are over at the General Assembly website under HR1714 and reads like some kind of political soap opera replete with plots, counter plots and skulduggery galore.

All in all, it's quite the bombshell and we'll be following here at Bludgeon & Skewer to see how it works out.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Garland Favorito

March 22, 2010 (404) 664-4044 garlandf@msn.com http://www.voterga.org

Impeachment Articles Filed in Georgia House Against Secretary of State’s Inspector General

ATLANTA, GA – Articles of Impeachment were filed last week in the Georgia House of Representatives against Shawn LaGrua, the Inspector General for the office of the Secretary of State. The articles charge that her office conducted several investigations improperly during the time period from 2004 to 2010.

The impeachment charges note failures by Mrs. LaGrua or her office to investigate cases thoroughly where clear potential violations or discrepancies existed. They also identify cases where individuals were dubiously charged for violations without substantive evidence that they committed those violations. The articles cite political motivations as possible reasons for several different investigations that produced questionable results.

The impeachment charges first reference a criminal investigation that Shawn LaGrua conducted in 2004 while she was both an Assistant District Attorney and the Solicitor General in Dekalb County. Many of the other impeachable offenses involve investigations conducted while Shawn LaGrua was the Inspector General for former Secretary of State, Karen Handel. These investigations were conducted for cases involving voting machines and elections matters on behalf of the State Election Board (SEB). A few more of the charges involve SEB investigations as recently as 2010.

Prior to working for Dekalb County, Shawn LaGrua was an Assistant District Attorney for Fulton County. After becoming an Assistant District Attorney in Dekalb County, she was appointed as the Solicitor General for the county by Governor Sonny Purdue. When Karen Handel, the former Fulton County chairwoman, was elected Secretary of State in 2006, she established the office of Inspector General and selected Shawn LaGrua to lead that office in 2007.

In December of 2009, three complaints were filed with the State Inspector General by three different citizens regarding investigations that Mrs. Lagrua’s office conducted or failed to conduct during 2008 and 2009. Also in 2010, a fourth complaint by another Georgia citizen was filed with the U.S. Justice Dept. Days after his office was notified of the first three complaints, Governor Purdue appointed Shawn LaGrua to the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. She is expected to become a Fulton County Superior Court judge in July of this year.

The impeachment articles were drafted as HR1714 and are available on the General Assembly website at http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hr1714.htm. They have been sent to the House Judiciary Committee which will likely determine what action to take. Under the Georgia Constitution, the House has the power to impeach an official while the Senate is granted authority to conduct a trial.

Documents concerning complaints about the investigations in question can be found on the VoterGA web site at: http://www.voterga.org/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=more_15727. An in depth documentary about the questionable investigations that were conducted can be found on the Political Vine web site at: http://politicalvine.com/politicalrumors/law-and-justice/the-real-shawn-lagrua/.

Libertarian candidate David Montané has an excellent interview with the fine folks over at Decatur News Online on the impending Special Election for State Senate District 42 and we urge the readership to take the time to check it out. Here's the link to Decatur News Online, while you're there add a comment on your take on this David vs Goliath contest for Liberty.

Which of the currently declared candidates has a stated position on Equality of Domestic Relationships? Libertarian David Montané.

Which of the currently declared candidates has a stated position on a Death Penalty Moratorium? Libertarian David Montané.

Which of the currently declared candidates has a stated position on Medical Marijuana? Libertarian David Montané.

You get the picture. His democrat opponents aren't talking about these issues at all and most likely won't. Do you want still more democrat tax and spend legislation that further erodes your freedoms or is it time to take Liberty for a test ride?

Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote for Libertarian David Montané for Georgia State Senate District 42!

Monday, March 22, 2010

There's a post up over at Gold Dome Live that's talking about Bundlin' Dave Adelman and the race for his seat that DIDN'T have Libertarian David Montané in it. We've corrected that oversight and urge the readership to jump in and add thier two cents as well. Here's the breadcrumbs we left:

Greetings All,

We are filled with dismay over here at the Secret Underground Libertarian Command Center (LCC) at Mr. Suggs failure to provide a complete list of the candidates running in the Special Election for State Senate District 42. The really, really huge news is that Libertarian David Montané had also declared for that seat and has filed with the State Ethics Commission to that effect. David's presence in the race will ensure that the discussion includes ending the failed War on Drugs, equal rights for all Georgians, a death penalty moratorium and many other issues of interest to lovers of Liberty. So if you're tired of the same old same old from both our republican and democrat brothers and sisters, then take the plunge and vote Libertarian this time around.

Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote Libertarian! Vote for David Montané for State Senate District 42!

Libertarian Candidate for US Senate, Chuck Donovan, has issued a call for action in his latest FaceBook post. If the events of the last few days have opened your eyes, then you realize that the time to fuss is over and the time to act is at hand. The article is posted below for your reading pleasure and after you finish it head over to Chuck's Senate Campaign website and drop a dollar on the donate button, or better yet volunteer with his campaign.

But before you go, be sure to hit the adsense sidebar and help out any of the politicians listed there by clicking their ads. It's the fast, easy, fun way to influence politics in Georgia right here and right now!

Chuck Donovan for US Senate, Georgia 2010I am getting more and more offers of help for my campaign. To all of you interested in liberty, as opposed to what the Central Politburo continues to foist on us, and who wish to aid either my Libertarian campaign or another one, here are my suggestions.

Don't wait until a campaign staffer of the candidate himself/herself asks you. Take the initiative and make it happen. The alternative is more of what you got yesterday, more of all the thievery and usurpation that came before it, and more of what is on the way right behind it.

A political campaign needs some help with a number of things:

-Fund raising - The sad truth is we need money to run. A candidate witha laptop and a social network won't cut it. Events of any kind need tobe arranged and coordinated. Candidates will make every one they can, but you don't have to actually have the candidate there.

-Gatherings for your candidate to address - People of the Left, Right and in between need to hear the message of liberty. Get people to gather and find a candidate with the backbone to break from the mainstream, and stand up to the status quo.

-Get your candidate to post documents you can download, print, and hand out yourself. Help the candidate post the document if you can - .pdf is a good format to start with.

-If you can't do any of that, be sure to keep up with the candidate's website, and continue to read, and study the message of liberty at placeslike www.mises.org, www.fee.org, http://www.ncc-1776.org/, and www.cato.org. Turn to mainstream "information" only to keep up with a superficial outline of what is happening.

-Tell your friends to stop being afraid of the third party and be more afraid of continuing the disastrous reign of the Democrats and Republicans. Also, let them know there is a strategy for the Libertarian to win, but it doesn't involve people voting for Republicans because they call themselves "fiscally conservative", or voting for Democrats because they call themselves "fair", "equal", or "caring".

-Finally, just two more words to support liberty, the Constitution, and your favorite candidate - Vote Libertarian.

Just what do you think would have happened to things like the so-called Patriot Act, FISA, No Child Left Behind, TARP, Cap and Trade, Fannie and Freddie, the Fed, and Marxist Medicine had there been a Libertarian Congress in place? Libertarians would have laughed them all out the door. Instead we have a shredded Bill of Rights and No Taxpayer Left Standing. How do you think the war would have been managed by a Libertarian Congress? Do you think Libertarians would have left you in your current situation of perpetual war for perpetual peace? Do you think Libertarians would have allowed the deadly national debt now hanging over our heads?

The recovery will begin when the recession hits the Federal government. Libertarians want to bring it to them. It will happen when we sweep the Democrats and Republican so-called "leaders" out of office and replace them with with those who will divest themselves of the power Washington has tyrannically taken from the American people. It will happen with a principled leadership that will enforce an ideal of equal rights and protection, as outlined in our Declaration of Independence, that includes ALL Americans in their policies

Saturday, March 20, 2010

It's a slow news day unless you're on the Bury MacBerry Bandwagon (BMB) but there is yet another Rasmussen poll to consider. It's been covered by Jason Pye and the fine folks over at Georgia Politics Unfiltered but here at Bludgeon & Skewer we don't much care about the named candidates. It's all about our guy, Undecided.

In the latest Rasmussen Poll on the Georgia Governors race, Undecided did pretty damn well. The head to head results:

The Governors race in 2010 should be the main focus for Georgia Libertarians as it is the best chance the LP's had yet to break the 20% barrier that keeps us in Political Body Land when we really, really want to be in Political Party Land. And by current Georgia Law, there are only two ways for the Georgia LP to make that change, get 20% of the vote in a Presidential election or 20% of the vote in the Georgia Governor's race. Guess which one is more likely.

So when early poll results show a combined Undecided/Other pool of voters hanging at or near 20%, we get excited. Could that slice of the electorate remain in the U/O category all the way to November? Will they fall prey to the "Lesser of Two Evils" syndrome that plagues American politics? Can they be persuaded to cast their ballots for Liberty and vote for John Monds in November?

We're dedicated to finding out so we'll be following Undecided/Other all the way through the primaries and making the case for Liberty to the best of our ability. Don't throw your votes away this year, cast your ballot for Liberty and Vote Libertarian. Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote for Libertarian John Monds!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Georgia State Senator David Adelman finally got confirmed as US Ambassador to Singapor according to Jim Tharpe over at the AJC's Gold Dome Live today. The big news for lovers of liberty in Georgia's 42nd Senate District is that the long awaited special election to pick his replacement can finally get underway. A quick review of the State Ethics Commission website revealed that the field of candidates remains at three as of today although rumors abound that as many as three more democrat candidates may take a shot at Senator Adelman's seat by the time qualifying ends.

The current field of candidates include Libertarian David Montané making his first bid for office, democrat Jason Carter who leads the field in fundraising and park cleaning and democrat Tom Stubbs rounding out the pack.

Who will win this So Special Election? Who knows as the 42nd district is aptly described as "where Berkley and Mayberry co-exist" by local blogger Dave Kell of inDECATUR. So far, Libertarian David Montané has put forth positions on the issues of Annexation, Public Transportation, the failed War on Drugs and Sunday Alcohol sales. Will his democrat opponents follow suit?

The DeKalb Libertarian Party affiliate has released the following statement on the passage of SB 406 in the Georgia State Senate. The bill will now head over to the house for consideration.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement on behalf of the Libertarian Party of DeKalb County expressing it’s opposition to Senate Bill 406, The Prescription Drug Monitoring Act:

"The Libertarian Party of DeKalb County vehemently opposes passage of SB 418, the so called Prescription Drug Monitoring Act as an outrageous extension of the failed War on Drugs. This bill's sole purpose is to allow local and state law enforcement agencies to ignore the 4th Amendment and to conduct online searches of medical records for signs of possible drug abuse by allowing those agencies access to every medical record in the state of Georgia. Unreasonable search and seizure? Certainly. Unconstitutional? Beyond doubt.

SB 406 also ensures that Georgia’s citizens who suffer from daily chronic pain may not be able to get needed medication as this bill would cause some medical professional’s to stop prescribing them to avoid being placed on the watch lists this bill would certainly create. Senate Bill 406 is an unwarranted intrusion on the privacy of the citizens of Georgia and should be stopped.

SB 406 has cleared the Senate and heads over to the House for consideration. This bill seeks to implement online voter registration in Georgia which is a good thing. It ought to be simpler to properly maintain your right to vote as you move from one location in Georgia to another without having to go through the current hassle of running hither and yon to update your residency info. So kudos to the Senate for writing a piece of Legislation to bumps Georgia a little closer to the 21st Century.

While we're at it, why not allow Georgians to sign petitions for third party candidates online? It's a similar process to online voter registration and since it looks like HB 1257 is going to die in committee this session, that would be a suitable consolation prize for Liberty. If online petitioning were a reality in Georgia then the single largest obstacle to more choices on the ballot would be reduced to a manageable size.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The 25th of March is fast approaching and with it comes the cutover deadline for legislation moving through our House of Representatives and our Senate. Among the bills that are stuck in committee and apparently doomed are HB 1257(Ballot Access) and HB 1215 (Optical Scan Ballots). We've covered HB 1257 in detail here at Bludgeon & Skewer and are preparing the sack cloth and ashes in anticipation that neither of the two pieces of legislation will clear their respective committees and get a floor vote.

Garland Favorito has sent out a request for input on his attempts to get HB 1215 clear of it's committee and onto the floor which appears below. HB 1215 is an attempt to provide an audit trail for votes cast in Georgia, which is something the citizens of this state haven't had since the Diebold DRE's were procured way back in the way back of Cathy Cox's reign as SecState. Time is short, please contact your Reps down at the house and tell them to get going on these important bills.

Last Chance for Voting Machine Bill Hearing

All,

Next Thursday, March 25th is the cutover deadline for all bills to have passed at least one body of the General Assembly to be considered by the other. For any bill to get the floor of the Senate or House it must be reported favorably out of committee and then be selected by a Rules Committee member for a floor vote. HB1215 still has not had a hearing yet and there is only one week left. HB1215 faces an uphill battle because the Secretary of State has opposed it on the grounds that it requires an expenditure of funds that are not readily available. Since the office never quantified the savings that the bill would achieve, the leadership has no incentive to grant a hearing for the bill. Essentially they have placed a price tag on preserving the fundamental right of voting although no price tag existed in 2002 when they purchased $54 million of unverifiable voting equipment that essentially disenfranchised us.

Many of you may have already contacted the General Assembly based on my previous Email bulletins. If so, please reply to let me know what contacts you have made so that I can determine who is responsive to our needs. If not, you can still express your request for this bill to be heard to chairman Mark Hamilton at mark.hamilton@house.ga.gov. His assistant Pam Norwood can be reached at 404 656 5132. It would also be important to contact the office of House Speaker, David Ralston at 404 656-5020. His aides are dianne.hardin@house.ga.gov, leishea.johnson@house.ga.gov and ginny.mckinney@house.ga.gov In addition, you can contact the members of the Governmental Affairs Committee below:

Our guy, Libertarian David Montané, has received an endorsement from Liberty- Candidates.Org and will be included in their next Money Bomb event! that's great news for David's campaign and better news for the citizens of the 42nd district.

16 March 2010

United States of America FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Liberty Candidates 2010 Endorses:

David Montane who is running for State Senator in the state of Georgia

42nd District

LIBERTY-CANDIDATES.ORG enthusiastically welcomes David Montane to the growing slate of candidates championing a return to Constitutional governance in the United States! A Liberty Candidate will defend the great American principles of:

· Individual Liberty

· Constitutional Government

· Sound Money

· Free Markets

· a Non-interventionist Foreign Policy.

This endorsement is the hallmark of a true Liberty Candidate. To qualify, Candidates must submit answers to the four liberty questions (http://tinyurl.com/libertyapplication). Then, each application is voted on by a committee made up of peers and other liberty minded individuals. Each candidate’s website is visited by committee members to see that a candidate’s answers and his/her stance on the issues coincide.

If accepted, each Liberty Candidate is added to the Liberty-Candidates.org site with prominent links back to his/her site(s). All Liberty Candidates are eligible to participate in the Liberty Candidate Money Bombs.

With candidates like David Montane serving the people at the city, county, state and federal level, there is real hope for change in America.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Libertarian David Chastain has dispatched this email to the House Government Affairs committee, they're the ones currently holding HB 1257 hostage. As we've stated before here at Bludgeon & Skewer, HB 1257 offers the most liberty per buck of any of the ballot access bills currently in the Georgia house and needs to get sprung from committee and sent to the floor. For those of you who think that your voice does not matter, you're wrong. House members use email, faxes and phone calls to gauge the level of support any particular bill gets, if a bill gets no input from the citizens, it goes no where. If a bill gets a few calls/faxes/email it moves up a notch or two, if it gets a lot, it goes to the floor. So send these guys an email. Your email, David's email, strike a blow for liberty and send them something!

On behalf of the many Georgians who have been waiting for their legislative leadership to set aside the fears and prejudices that restrict fair and equal access to the voter's ballot, I commend Representatives Alan Powell, Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield and “Rusty” Kidd for sponsoring House Bill 1257.

Please make this a matter of urgency and encourage the members of the Governmental Affairs Committee to hold a hearing on this issue. Georgia's ballot access laws and restrictive petitioning requirements have kept our state in the back of the bus for too long. It's the 21st Century. The marketplace rewards diversity and society is better for it. Why should Georgia's ballot access requirements be any different?

When the committee does hold any hearings regarding HB 1257, I would like to be advised as I would like to make a brief plea on behalf of those community neighbors throughout Georgia who would like to be elected representatives in making public policy. Whether for local school board, county commission, or even higher, there are capable men and women who withhold their potential leadership because of in-party politics that create barriers to entering into civic service. You can fix that.

It's Re-Post Central Time here at Bludgeon & Skewer with a piece from June of 2009. It's kinda old but still pertinent in the current political bloodletting leading up to our republican and democrat brothers and sisters primaries. At the end of the day, there will be a democrat, a republican and Libertarian John Monds on the ballot for Governor of Georgia this fall. This is how we hope the race turns out!

OK, the old cut and paste didn't work so well this time. Hit the link above to read the original.

The Georgia Libertarian Party State Convention is coming on April 24, 2010. It's the biggest event of the year here in LibertyLand as members of the party gather to hash out internal details like who's gonna be the Chair, the Vice Chair and various and sundry other admin positions as well as select our Candidates for the Statewide races this fall.

It's such a big event that you'll be constantly reminded by the merry crew here at Bludgeon & Skewer that it's on the horizon and we'll be harping to the faithful to be sure to shell out some moola to attend. We're holding this years festivites at the Westin Atlanta Airport located convinently near the airport. Check out the pix:

We also want to tell any of the readership that does not belong to the Libertarian Party to get off your duffs and join! $25 bucks gets you a one year membership in the Georgia LP AND the right to vote at the convention! That's right, you get to help choose who carries the banner of Liberty onto the Campaign Trail this fall if you're a full fledged member and you come to the convention. Talking politics is cool, doing politics is cooler!

The hardest working single issue advocate in Georgia, Garland Favorito, has issued a press release on HB 1257. The drop dead date on this bill is Thursday, 25 March 2010. If it doesn't get out of the rules committee, it can't get a floor vote and will pass into oblivion, not into law. Here at Bludgeon & Skewer we've been focused on ballot access since early in 2009 and this is the best chance Georgians have had in decades to level the political playing field in our great state. Don't let this opportunity slip by, barrage the state house players with emails and phone calls to move this important piece of legislation out of committee. We'll keep a sharp eye peeled for any signs of a committee meeting and relay any info we can, 10 motivated voters in that meeting can move this legislation forward. 10.

Here's Garland's press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Garland Favorito

March 13, 2010 (404) 664-4044 garlandf@msn.com http://www.voterga.org

House Bill Proposes Open Ballot Access to All Candidates

ATLANTA, GA – A new bill that was introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives last week would open election ballots by removing the petitioning requirements that are currently imposed on all third party and independent candidates who want to run in local or statewide races. The bipartisan bill, HB1257, would also save time and money for state and counties by eliminating signature verification. It was introduced by Reps. Alan Powell, Tom McCall, Mark Hatfield and “Rusty” Kidd.

Any candidate who is not a Republican or Democrat, must currently gather thousands of signatures from registered voters who are qualified to vote for the candidate before their name can be placed on the ballot in a State House, State Senate, U.S. House or other partisan local race. Only Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians can name statewide candidates now without petitioning.

Georgia is currently ranked by Ballot Access News as having the most restrictive ballot access laws in the country. Some restrictions are 10 times more than the national average of all other states combined. For example, Georgia requires a political party to receive 20% of votes cast in the last gubernatorial or presidential race to run a full slate of candidates. That barrier is ten times the national median of about 2%. Likewise, Georgia requires a third party U.S. House candidate to collect verified signatures from 5% of the registered voters in the district before their name can be placed on the ballot. That barrier is 10 times the average of about .5% that is required by other states.

The restrictions have resulted in a perpetual lack of qualified candidates throughout Georgia. No 3rd party U.S. House candidate has qualified for a normal election since 1943 when existing laws were passed. Only about 39% of all State House races have been contested by both a Republican and a Democrat. Only 44% of legislative races were contested by both a Democrat and Republican in 2004, 17 points below the 61% national average. Georgia is also ranked worst in the nation for political party presidential qualification, having an average of just 1.2 3rd party presidential candidates on the ballot since 1972. In 2008, six presidential candidates were on ballots in enough states to mathematically win the Electoral College but only three of them were on the ballot in Georgia.

Petitioning has recently come under fire due to claims of mistreatment by petitioners. Former Chatham County Republican Commissioner, Jeff Rayno, was referred for a felony investigation in a December 2009 State Election Board meeting on grounds that he forged petition signatures although no forged signature was produced. He filed a U.S. Justice complaint against former chairwoman, Karen Handel, and her Inspector General, Shawn LaGrua, who still works in the Secretary of State’s office. In another case, a petitioner was arrested at a park while trying to collect signatures for a Green party candidate.

The proposed legislation would move Georgia from being ranked as one of the top five most restrictive states in every type of race to a more open ballot access state such as Florida. While offering Georgia voters more freedom of choice, it still maintains qualification fees to deter frivolous candidates. Nevertheless, the bill is expected to encounter opposition from the General Assembly leadership team and partisans in both sides of the legislature. House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman, Mark Hamilton, will now determine if the bill will get a hearing. A similar but far less comprehensive measure, HB1141, was removed from the hearing schedule last week.# # #

Libertarian Candidate David Montané will be speaking between 1:00PM and 3:00PM at the Forward Georgia meeting tomorrow at 265 Arizona Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30307. If any of the readership would like to hear David speak, be advised to arrive early as parking is a problem.

Forward Georgia, formerly known as Change Georgia, is the brainchild of Sherri Mann Stewart and this will be the third meeting of this rapidly evolving group. David Montané will be sharing the stage with Alison Amoroso, Communications Director for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute as well as democrat candidate Steffini Bethea who is running for Georgia State House District 106.

The readership is also advised that this is a pot-luck style affair so don't show up empty handed, chips are nice, finger sandwiches are nicer.

Friday, March 12, 2010

It's Friday and most of the staff here at Bludgeon & Skewer has spent the day crawling up, down and around dusty industrial steel structures in a nameless industrial park in the Metro Atlanta area. What do you do when you're too tired to write something new? Re-Post! Here's a series from way back in November of 09 that has yet to be finished, but will get more attention this weekend.

Tip Top Secret Libertarian 2010 Georgia Election Strategy, Part 1

We're completely exhausted over here at the Secret Underground Libertarian Command Center as we've been following tonight's election results in Atlanta, New York's 23rd, Virginia and the Peoples Republic of New Jersey on cable, the internet and various cell phone feeds and tweets. It's a staggering amount of info, replete with smarmy punditry analysis, full color graphics and really keen zoom-able maps. And littered through out it all are sage predictions about how the democrats are toast, the republicans are toast, Rockin' Barry O is toast along with quite a few derogatory comments about conservatives in general and those loathsome tea party types in particular.

We're feeling kinda left out of the mix at the moment. The Libertarian Party is the only operational third Party in the good old US of A. We're the only party to successfully field national candidates on a regular basis and the only third party with access to State wide races here in Georgia with out a petition requirement.

So in order to have our ducks in a row for the next election-fest in 2010 here in Georgia, the guys and gals thought we ought to get around to devising clever schemes to maximize our public footprint. Asymmetric methods to exploit traditional media for exposure to a broader base, cooly daddy stuff to do on YouTube, Facebook and the rest of the internet to give our Libertarian ticket better reach and a bigger megaphone. And do it all on a projected budget of Zero, Nada, Nuthin'.

Libertarians typically count campaign donations in the tens of dollars unlike our foes over there in republican-democrat land. We've never been awash with PAC money, lobbyist money or any other special interest cash. We're clean like that. Why would a lobbyist give any money to a Libertarian candidate? Everyone with half a brain knows the fix is in and whatever brand of republican/democrat candidate gets elected is for sale. At discount pricing. They're not so sure about us, we might have ethics or something.

So as the first part of our Tip Top Secret 2010 Georgia Election Strategy, we've decided to continue to study our potential opponents for the Governorship, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, Labor Commissioner and all the rest as the current gaggle of republican and democrat wanna-bees fight their way to and through their primaries. And when they're done and the winner is selected for the general election there will a Libertarian Candidate right next to them on the ballot. Our republican and democrat brothers and sisters will be worn out from their bitter primary fights and our guys and gals will be fresh and ready to dance.

And we'll "dance with what brung us". Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Here's the latest from Chuck Donovan, Libertarian candidate for the US Senate here in Georgia. The topic du jour is the US Census that we've all been waiting for with bated breath, like we've never been through one before. This time they want to know how many flat screen TV's are in each household and if your XBox Live subscription is up to date. There are rumors that the census takers will also be asking about how many internet avatars you use, their profiles and your average daily bandwidth consumption (ADBC). OK, OK, we made that last part up, sort of.

Why is it that with the largest number of federal employees ever devoted to a Census; in a year when we are already trillions of dollars in debt; with a media filled with stories on the Census; why did I receive a letter from the Federal Government yesterday to tell me that I would soon receive a Census form? How many millions did this silly letter cost us?

Why also, did it have six different languages on it? When my grandmother arrived here from Italy she was 10 years old and only spoke Italian. When my wife moved here from Europe, she was an adult who had only spent one year of her life living in an English speaking country. Both of them knew that they would have to speak and read English or not fully participate in the United States experience. Why are United States taxpayers footing the bill for language translation services?

Don't try to paint me as xenophobic. In my house, there are three languages being studied and spoken. I regularly and happily visit my wife's family in Europe. In the course of my work I visit many different countries on every continent except Antarctica. I could fly domestically only. I chose international flying. I love experiencing different cultures. I also love my own country. We Americans can be open and compassionate. We can also be assertive.

It isn't easy to leave your country and immigrate to another, but the decision to make such a big move cannot include the expectation of taxpayer financing in any way. There is a way to support immigrants. It is not a way that includes expanding the government and increasing the tax bill.

When are we going to get some "leadership" in Washington willing to say what should be said? When will the so-called "representatives" actually make the difficult decisions?

Here's the next in a series of videos by Libertarian David Montané on issues of concern in Georgia's 42nd Senate District special election. This one covers the impact the War on Drugs has on the citizens of the 42nd and the nation.

When are we gonna hear from Jason Carter (D) or Tom Stubbs (D) on the issues? Or are robo calls the best they can do?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Georgia LP is looking to add another candidate to it's growing slate this fall and Bludgeon & Skewer co-founder Chris Barber is hot on the trail. If any of the readership is of the legal persuasion and wouldn't mind taking a shot at Attourney General for Georgia, drop Chris a line and let's get started!

Here's the original letter:

$ 250,000.00 worth of advertisingFree !For the right attorney this could be a jackpot in this new economy. Allow me to explain we don’t have that many attorneys in the party, and what we have they all seem to be pretty busy. I mean after all, they are LIBERTARIANS.

I need a candidate for Attorney General for the Great State of Georgia.

You1.) Must meet all the requirements set for forth by the Georgia Secretary of State. 2.) Consider oneself a Libertarian or Libertarian leaning.3.) Absolutely No Republicans 4.) Must be “pro” 2nd amendment, jury nullification, and 10th amendment.

IssuesIf you believe that everyone deserves equal justice under the law, regardless of their skin color, sexual preference, brand of Christianity or lack thereof, Contact Me. If you believe the outsourcing of AG’s work to large firms who in turn donate heavily to AG candidates is repugnant, Contact Me. If you believe that city and county governments are ridden with corruption Contact Me.

We have a winning strategy, reply in complete confidence to 901gastonst@comcast.net

The Ballot Access Bill waltz continues down to the statehouse as two competing bills continue to languish in their respective committees. As we discussed here at Bludgeon and Skewer way back on 19 FEB 10, the giant Post-It Note flow chart indicates that HB 1257 offers the most Freedom for the Buck and after Monday's disappointing non-meeting on HB 1141, it looks like HB 1257 is the bill to back.

The sad part is that the scuttle and buttle on the house side is that no matter which bill you prefer, neither HB 1141 or HB 1257 is going to get out of committee. There's just to much wrangling going on over which slice of the population in Georgia is gonna get tagged as "You're It!" to bail us out of the current declining revenue problem. Will it be sick people? Will it be the hated Cigarette Smoker? Are College Kids on the chopping block? Somebody's gonna get screwed for the greater good. And deciding who that will be means there's no time for Liberty for Georgians.

So kudos to Rep Alan Powell (D) 29th house district, Rep Culver Kidd (?) 141st district, Rep Mark Hatfield (R) 177th district and Rep Tom McCall (R) 3oth district for having the stones to introduce this bill. Any one in the readership have any ideas on how to get this puppy out of committee?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

We just got the latest missive from the fine folks over at Voter Georgia on the ongoing saga of the Diebold mess we got from Cathy Cox, you remember, the mess that Karen Handel said she'd fix but never did. It turns out that the DoJ has now decided that the deal between ES&S and Diebold/Premier is a no go. Looks like there were some concerns about one firm selling voting machines controlling 70% of the US voting machine market, not to mention the well documented problems the Diebold equipment has in just counting your freakin' vote.

VoterGA SupportersThe U.S. Dept. of Justice has just concluded that ES&S must divest itself of the Premier Elections Systems division that it recently purchased from Diebold. The deal would have allowed a single vendor to count nearly 70% of the votes in America, many of those on unverifiable electronic voting equipment.

The history of these two companies is fascinating in that they used to be the same company run by two brothers, Todd and Bob Urosevich. That company was Omaha based, DataMark Systems which was later renamed American Information Systems. The companies were eventually split with Todd taking control of ES&S while Bob took control of Global Election Systems. Bob sold Global to Diebold, whose CEO was Walden (Wally) O’Dell, just before Georgia signed a contract to purchase the machines. After years of intense national scrutiny and ridicule Diebold recently spun its acquisition off into Premier Election Systems and then sold it to ES&S for about 20% of the original purchase price underneath the Justice Dept radar.

Special thanks to Bev Harris of Black Box Voting who has reported much of hits over the years and who led this charge by filing the initial complaint that led several states to join the effort. Also thanks to Brad Friedman who stayed on top of this and some many other elections issues as well as Susan Somach of the Georgia Voting Rights Coalition who prompted me to send this out within an hour after I got it from Brad. As previously reported by Bev Harris, Georgia’s former Elections Director Kathy Rogers, who went to work for Diebold, was on the protected list as part of the merger agreement.

Garlandwww.voterga.org404 664-4044By Brad Friedman on 3/8/2010 6:02PM DOJ TO REQUIRE ES&S TO SELL OFF ASSETS FROM DIEBOLD MERGER CITING ANTI-TRUST CONCERNSThe Department of Justice's Anti-trust division has determined that the purchase of Premier Election Solutions, Diebold Inc.'s recently renamed e-voting division, by Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) has resulted in a voting machine monopoly. The DoJ and nine states who have joined in a lawsuit, are suing to require ES&S to divest of the assets gained in the bargain-basement priced purchase of Diebold's e-voting outfit last September.

The merger with Diebold/Premier, their second largest competitor, had given ES&S, a private corporation which had already controlled some 50% of U.S. elections their electronic voting systems, a full 70% control of the votes cast in this country. The acquisition had been opposed by election integrity organizations, Hart Intercivic (a much smaller Austin-based competitor), the New York Times editorial board, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and was being investigated by 14 different states along with the DoJ's anti-trust division...

A settlement has been struck, pending approval by a federal judge, between the DOJ, nine states and ES&S requiring that the private company find a DoJ-approved purchaser of the Diebold/Premier assets. Prior to the $5 million sale to ES&S, Diebold had been searching for a buyer for a number of years, even as they faced investigations by the SEC and the DoJ, share-holder class action suits, and a number of legal battles with states and country jurisdictions around the country after voting systems were found to have failed or in violation of federal and state standards. Diebold purchased the election division from Global Election Systems in 2002 for the price of $25 million.

The proposed settlement, signed by the DoJ, ES&S and representatives of state attorney generals in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington has been posted here [PDF].

An AP report on the potential lawsuit by the DoJ last week noted that "As a privately held company, ES&S issues no financial reports. It didn't tell the Justice Department about the Diebold deal because the transaction wasn't big enough to trigger the federal law that requires the government to be informed of big mergers before they are completed."

The article added that a Congressional Research Service report found the merger had given ES&S "a presence in 90 percent of the states" making it the "sole source" for election systems in "at least 20", given them "a market share three or more times that of its closest competitor".

AP's coverage of today's news can be found here.

The DoJ-ordered unwinding of the merger, however, will do little to ensure the accuracy or ability of citizens to oversee their own elections run on unobservable, easily manipulated, oft-failed electronic voting systems which use secret software made by private corporations to count votes in our public elections.

Just one recent example of the dangers of easily manipulated e-voting systems made by ES&S, Diebold and others, can be found in the current federal trial, now ongoing in Clay County, KY, of six top election officials who are alleged, as we reported last week, to have manipulated election results by flipping votes on ES&S voting machines, without the knowledge of voters, as part of a decades-long election rigging scheme.

UPDATE: The DoJ's announcement of the requirement and proposed settlement: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/March/10-at-235.html